Corporate Stable Equivalent

[JMecc]

What is the branding for Corporate Stable (as Asus calls it) motherboards outside of Asus?

I need to find a board that is not only reliable but will also be available on the shelf the longest. When some part of a machine breaks it is easy to pick up a drop-in replacement 5-10 years later but for computers it is trickier since many mobos drop off the shelves about a year after release.

I have custom casing so I need exactly the same motherboard to be available in 3-5 years at least. What would you suggest?

Thanks in advance!

 

[o1die]

I suggest you simply order two of the same boards, so you have a spare. Better to get two budget boards than one expensive one. Just my humble opinion. Most micro atx boards have onboard video; most atx boards don't, though the last foxconn board I owned came with the video onboard.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

You can check out this site http://www3.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/asmo-na/eng/101286.htm it lists our extented life cycle plan boards. As a general rule in a desktop environment you will have a hard time finding something for 3 to 5 years but there are some reseller that will carry discontinued products like www.cuetech.com that can get you discontinued product well after they have been discontinued.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[o1die]

Why gamble on finding your board in five years. Your business can probably afford a second board. Just the downtime searching and ordering another board could cost your business more than the second board. A good server board is around $350; I suggest Tyan with an Intel cpu.

 

[JMecc]

It wouldn't be a second board; more like we'll buy 200 (50 now, 50 in a few months, ...) and don't want to allocate the capital to buying a stack of spares now.

 

[o1die]

Figuring the failure rate at 5-10% in the first 3 years or so, you could still buy some spare boards for inventory.

 

[JMecc]

Yeah that's what I tried to have happen before but no one listened.

Thing is that it's not just for replacing broken ones but for further manufacturing runs. I have to change the case (custom cast) every time we change the motherboard. The previous one lasted these last 3 years through finding some warehouses with forgotten inventory but it would be nice to get a model that is slated to last that long right from the get-go.

 

[o1die]

This http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066 case and this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121526 would be a good combo. Antec has been in business a long time, but this case may be too big for your alocated space.

 

[JMecc]

I finally found one example (http://www.jetwaycomputer.com/spec/NF9A-Q67.pdf) - "Industrial Embedded Platform with 5-Year Availability".

I'll look at their FM1 socket stuff too and then try to find other manufacturers with similar provisions such that I can pick the best one.

 

[JMecc]

Best answer selected by jmecc.